R & P Post 2: Our target audience

Primary Audience

Our primary audience is made up of:

-fans of the thriller/psychological thriller genres

-men & women between 15 and 24 years old. 

We decided to target both males and females by including characters of both gender, in the film, and though the only visible character in the opening sequence is the female antagonist, we ensured other characters would be introduced through photographs (as a prop) and sound bridges. Despite having predominantly female characters in the film through the stalker and victim, which could potentially alienate the male audience, the thriller genre is often considered an archetypal genre enjoyed by men. 

A representation of our target audience

Because our film is based around the themes of cyber-stalking & social media and involves characters who are young adults, we decided to target this age group, who typically tend to have more involvement with social media. As a result this enables the core target audience to relate to the characters and plot much more. We therefore took inspiration from films with similar themes, target audiences and certifications, including Cyberbully, Stalked at 17 and Unfriended, and used this to influence our own decisions on which sections of the audience to target and how to do so, such as also having a 15 certificate and including enough violence and extremity to sustain the audience's interest.

We took inspiration from these films in particular

Secondary & Tertiary Audiences

Our alternative audiences are made up of:

-fans of the horror genre

-fans of British indie films

We decided that a possible secondary audience could be made up of horror fans. The films that we referenced, like One Hour Photo, also often included elements of horror films such as violence and voyeurism and so we thought our film should also contain similar. With One Hour Photo in particular, we drew inspiration from its use of jealousy in influencing the actions of the antagonist. The victim's continuous struggle to ignore or evade the villain throughout the story also parallels the storylines of numerous horror films.

One Hour Photo influenced our decisions on storyline

Additionally, the accents, culture and settings within the film connote its British nationality, whilst its lack of star billing & large studios and targeting of a relatively exclusive audience in British young people indicates it as an independent film. This could potentially create a tertiary audience as they could either be fans/regular viewers of British indies in general and/or could be drawn to the film as they relate to the ideas and references included.